The Czar Wars
by Sunnflowers
Summary: Recite." The word was spoken coldly, monotonously.
1. A New Gundam Pilot

Disclaimer: Don't take what's mine, but what I didn't create isn't mine  
  
A New Gundam Pilot  
  
" Recite." The word was spoken coldly, monotonously.  
  
The reply was just as efficient, just as cold. "Heero Yuy, 01, Japenese, pilot of gundam Wing Zero, known to some as the 'perfect soldier'. Duo Maxwell, 02, American, pilot of gundam Deathcscythe, known to some as 'Shinigami'. Trowa Barton, 03, Latin, pilot of gundam Heavyarms, known to some as the 'Silencer'. Quatre Raberba Winner, 04, Arabian, pilot of gundam Sandrock, known to some as the 'Arabian prince'. Wufei, 05, Chinese, pilot of gundam Shenlong, known to some as the 'Solitary Dragon'."  
  
" Very good, you are dismissed." The command was clipped and cold, just like everything else Dr. M said and did. The boy bowed respectfully before leaving the room, his shoulder length Auburn hair glinting in the artificial light.  
  
A/N Please R&R tell me what you think. Short, but the chapters are longer. Hope you like! 


	2. Assassination and Arrival

Disclaimer: Don't take what's mine, but what I didn't create I have no claim on.  
  
Chapter 2: The Assassination  
  
A/N Sorry about not updating, I had a little trouble with my disc. R&R I'm Desperate!  
  
  
  
" This is Ainsley Beccalyn reporting live from Vice Foreign Minister Dorlein's press conferance."  
  
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!  
  
"It's chaos! Miss Dorlein has just been assassinated! I repeat the Vice foreign minister has just been assassinated!" The reporter on the television looked panicked and seemed at a lack of what to do.  
  
"This is not good. This is very very bad," Duo whispered to himself as he turned off Quatre's T.V.   
  
"Quatre!" Duo called up into the vast mansion. "Trowa! Wufei! You guys need to come down here! It's an emergency!" Amazingly, Duo's voice carried throughout the large estate. Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre came running down the stairs.   
  
"What is it Duo?" Quatre asked breathlessly. The look Duo was giving them was not at all heartening.  
  
Duo's face moved into a grim line, " Relena Dorlein Peacecraft has just been assassinated." The statement was completely deadpanned. The three men gasped collectively.  
  
"Was it Heero?" Quatre asked mortified.  
  
"I really don't know, Q-man. All I know, is that one minute I was watching the press conference and the next thing I know is that the reporter is saying Relena's been shot. It could've been Heero, we all know how much he hates her."  
  
At that moment, both Wufei's and Trowa's preventer beepers started going off. "Well, guess we're getting called in," Trowa remarked wryly as all four of the men ran for the car. It looked like Quatre and Duo, even though they were not preventers, had decided to use their high-access satus as former gundam pilots to get into the scene and possibly find Heero.  
  
Half an hour later when the guys reached the scene, the police had made little headway with the chaotic crowd. Wufei quickly climbed up on the hood of the car so every body could see him. He then proceded to create relative calmness by explaining to them that evrything would be fine and that Relena was already at the hospital and being treated by the best doctors available. The pilots were so immersed in calming the frightened citizens, they didn't notice the shadowy figure slip out of the crowd and sneak away.  
  
***  
  
Demyan rolled out of bed, and not a moment too soon. He could see the electrical currents effect on the mattress.   
  
"Boy!" The intercom barked sharply to him. "Come to the main training room at once." Demyan quickly threw on some clothes, it would not do to keep Dr. M waiting. The nineteen year old boy ran down the corridors towards the main training room. When he reached the door, he hesitated. Why would Dr. M call him to the main training room? They always warmed up in one of the lesser training rooms first. 'Oh well,' Demyan thought as he put his feelings of discomfort aside and entered the room seemingly confident. The sight that beheld Demyan Vasily was shocking, for him at least. A woman, about a head shorter than himself with bright red hair, stood as still as a statue next to Dr. M. This was the first time since entering Dr. M's training center that he actually saw another human being besides M and himself. He waited patiently for intructions.   
  
  
  
A/N Please R&R tell me what you think. Hope you like! I don't care if you give negative comments. Yeah, flame me! (Only if you want, positive comments are better!) Please forgive me for the shortness of the chapters, I felt that was a good spot to end this chapter. Oh, and thank you so much to those who reviewed this story so far! 


	3. The Killer

Thanks to Niura-4-Rei, CarwinHargisArcherBeauZeekJet, Nanu-kun, and RikoRishodeathangeloflight for the reviews. This chapter goes out for you who bothered to review.  
  
Chapter 3: The Killer "This is a very good friend of mine. We have been colleagues for many years. You will treat her with respect on your mission to Earth. She will inform you of the mission parameters when you reach your predesignated destination. She will also be observing your training today. You may begin with your normal exercises." "Yes, Sir!" with that Demyan hurried off to start the normal exercises.  
  
Duo and Quatre immersed themselves into the crowd, desperately trying to locate the assassin or anything connected with him. "It's starting to look like Heero did it more and more." Duo commented offhandedly as they continued to search the area.  
"Duo, how can you say that?! We haven't found anything yet!" "Exactly, Quatre, if Heero assassinated someone, do you think he would leave any evidence to trace it back to him?" "Well, no, but . . ." "My point exactly."  
  
The click of a keyboard was the only noise that filled the room. The young man at the computer seemed oblivious to his surroundings and everything else. The wires connected to his body regulated everything. When the boy was finished writing up his mission report, he walked over and lay on the bed, asleep almost instantly. Unfortunately for Heero, it was all an illusion. There was no mission or secret identity anymore just a figment, fabricated by Dr. J. To the doctor, he was just a tool of war. Something to be stored and kept in good condition until the next time he was needed. The assassination had been perfect. The docter glanced over at the news cast. "The Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Dorlin (Spelling?) Peacecraft was pronounced dead on arrival here at Sank Memorial Hospital. The entire World Nation grieves the loss of this wonderful woman. Memorial services are being organized all over the world and colonies. The funeral date has yet to be decided. This is Ainsley Beccalyn reporting."  
Dr. J smiled as he directed Heero to the holographic chamber for his daily workout. Having Heero kill Relena was one of his more brilliant idea's. The first actual mission in three years, an assassination. How ironic it was considering that had been Heeero's first type of mission with Odin Lowe. J sighed as he turned the hologram on while switching the newscast off.  
  
"Gentlemen, please sit down," Une gestured at the seats in front of her. "Now as you know, Relena is dead. Preventer guards present at the scene have abslutely no idea what happened. As Gundam Pilots, I am hoping you at least have a suspect and evidence for me."  
"We do, Lady Une. But I'm afraid you're not going to want to here our results."  
" What are you talking . . ."  
"We're almost positive Heero did it." Une sat in stunned silence.  
"What do you mean? Why would you suspect Heero?" A small voice asked from the doorway. The pilots turned quickly to see Marimaia entering the office.  
"I would like an answer to that question myself," Une put in.  
"Well, we have several indications. One: as you said the preventers sent to guard had no idea what was going on. They've been trained exellently, but they were never trained to handle the best gundam pilot of all not to mention he's the perfect soldier to boot. Two: there's absolutely no evidence at all. That in itself point's towards Heero. And three: he absolutely hated Relena. Why he would risk the peace that he loves so much when no one not even Relena could find him puzzles us though."  
  
Demyan looked around the shuttle for any devises that might keep the shuttle from reaching Earth safely. Finally satisfied with his search Demyan took his seat. This mission wasn't going to be easy. However, no matter how difficult it was going to be, he would handle it. He had been training for this ever since he was a small boy.  
"Are you satisfied?" The woman, her name was Alina, spoke from her seat.  
"Yes, I'm quite satisfied, miss."  
"Could you please take your seat, Demyan. We're about to take off" Demyan sat and buckled in as the engines started and the plane took off towards Earth.  
  
"Well, if Une wants to find Heero, she couldn't have asked four better people." Duo commented from his computer.  
"It's a good thing Une asked us. If anyone else had been given this assignment, they definately wouldn't be making head way."  
"I'm glad you think this is headway, Trowa. At this rate it could take years to find him."  
"It may take years, but eventually we will find him. We may have to keep going like this; eliminating possible places he might be until we find him. We just can't give up."  
"Trowa is right you guys, I mean if Heero did kill Relena, and that's starting to look more likely every minute, who knows if and who is next in line."  
"Even if Heero didn't kill her, I'll bet you my next paycheck he knows who did."  
  
A/N: Sorry for the shortness in chapters, but at least I posted! Sorry I haven't posted in so long, my disc drive hasn't been working. 


	4. Target Revealed

Disclaimer: If you think I own Gundam Wing, you need a straight jacket and a really good phsiciatrist 

Authors notes: Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter, one can never get enough reviews. Sorry it took me so long to update. You know how it is with school, computer problems, and writer's block. I once again apologize for the shortness of the chapters, but anythings better than nothing, ne?

xXx

Chapter 4: Target revealed

xXx

"Welcome to Earth, Demyan. Russia to be more precise. The greatest country in the world, I'm sure your familiar with its history."

"Yes, Russia was one of the countries that I was instructed to research."

"We'll be traveling by bus to Sank. We leave at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I have arranged for rooms at a local hotel for the night."

"Understood."

xXx

"Your progress so far?"

"The only thing we can tell you Miss Une is that he is somewhere on Earth. You're lucky we even know that much at this point. He isn't the easiest person to track you know."

"Yes, Duo, I understand that, but we need to find him and soon. Thank you, you may leave."

As Duo left the room Une rubbed her temples in a soothing motion. Another hectic day gone, a lifetime to go. Two years after Mariemaia, and the world was on the verge of yet another war. "Help us all." was the only thing that broke the silence of the office as Une walked out the door.

After several minutes, Mariemaia opened the closet door and walked over to Une's computer and logged onto a special search program, specially designed to find missing people.

"If everyone's just going to give up, then I'll just have to find Heero myself." The little girl entered search parameters and waited for several minutes before her results popped up. She grinned as she looked over the report on the small buildings in America. Laughing softly, she printed the data off quickly, hopped down from the chair and ran off to find Duo.  
Rounding a sharp corner, Mariemaia skidded to a stop right in front of Wufei.

"Wufei?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know where Duo is? I really need to speak with him."

"He is in the computer room with Quatre and Trowa."

"THANKS!" was the only reply Wufei recieved as the girl ran off.

Mariemaia ran into the computer room and screached to a halt.

"Duo! I need to speak to you out in the hallway. It's important!"

"Can it wait?"

"NO!"

"Alright, hold on a sec." Duo turned in his chair and followed the child into the hallway.

xXx

"This is the old Sank palace. These are your mission parameters."

Demyan opened the folder and scanned the contents and just nodded silently. Eliminate the world leaders, start a new war, and completely destroy the former Gundam Pilots. It shouldn't be hard, all he would have to do was bomb Brussels and hunt the Gundam pilots, who were all probably rusty on their training, down and then kill them all.

"Mission accepted."

"Good. Now, in the main ballroom, you will find anything and everything you will need for this mission, including explosives and a truck. All I have to say to you now is good luck, not that any pupil of M's needs luck. I'll see you later, kid. My name is Galina, call me if you need me," with that, Galina placed her business card in Demyan's pocket and walked out of what was now Demyan's safehouse.

After she was gone, Demyan found a decent bedroom and set his laptop up and began his search for people and places. Several hours later, Demyan was almost finished with his research. He had discovered the secret World Nations Council meeting and where four of the five gundam pilots were at. The fifth pilot, Heero Yuy, seemed to be the person everybody was trying to find, including himself. If he allowed the other people to find Yuy, that was less work he would have to do and more time he could spend planning his attack on the World Nations Council.

xXx

"Alright, Mariemaia, what did you need to talk to me about?"

"I heard you talking to Mama, and I did some research. I think I know where Heero is."

"Mariemaia, that's not something to joke about. We really need to find Heero."

"I know that! I'm not joking! You think I almost took over the world for nothing? I'm not just some ignorant little kid!"

Mariemaia thrust the papers at Duo and motioned for him to look them over. "Just because Heero can disappear, doesn't say a thing for Dr. J."

"But J and the other docters are all dead!"

"Apparently J isn't. I think I've locatd his lab. There are only two possible places, both of them are located in America."

xXx

TBC

Please R&R, the more people that review, the faster the next chapter will likely come out!


	5. A Change in Plans

**WARNING!! — **There is killing in this chapter! Thought you should know. You have been warned!

A/N For disclaimer see Ch. 1. Sorry took forever to update, no excuse, yadda yadda yadda. Hope you enjoy, please R&R!!!!!!!

**Ch. 5 — A Change in Plans**

"Well, J's definitely starting to slack off in his old age," Demyan commented to himself as he packed what he would need for his journey to America. Some preliminary research had revealed some interesting information, including the whereabouts of Dr. J and his lab. So now, instead of hunting down the Gundam Pilots one by one like he had planned, Demyan was on his way to destroy J, the lab, and anyone unfortunate enough to be inside when he arrived.

Demyan loaded the truck with all of the things he would require, and set off to the airport where a personal jet (courtesy of Galina) awaited him. He spent the overseas flight first sleeping for a short time and then later continuing his research on trying to find out everything about his targets' lives as they were now.

Upon arriving in the United States on a private airstrip, Demyan rented a vehicle and drove the 10 hours it took to reach Chicago, the city where his target, Dr. J, was located, Demyan set up surveillance equipment and hid it carefully before leaving to find a motel for the night.

The next morning, feeling sufficiently rested, Demyan returned to the lab to complete this part of his mission. Before entering the building, Demyan checked the surveillance equipment to be sure the target was indeed on site, he was. Demyan proceeded to place explosives at strategic points around the building before entering the building via an airshaft. Having memorized the blueprints of the building, Demyan had absolutely no difficulty directing himself to an empty broom closet where he was able to kick out the grate, exit the closet and continue his search of J in a less cramped manner.

J, of course, was in the lab control room starting Heero's exercise hologram. His finished putting in the code as Demyan entered the room silently and aimed his gun at the doctor's head. J turned to switch on a view screen only to be met by the muzzle of a pistol.

"Boy, put the gun down, you don't know what you're doing."

"That's where you're wrong, old man. I know exactly what I'm doing, _Dr. J_," Demyan said as he cocked the gun and remorselessly pulled the trigger, killing J instantly. "See? Told you I knew what I was doing. If I hadn't, you would've died a much slower death. Others may not be as lucky as you were."

Demyan turned toward the consol that J had been heading for, "Now let's see what you've been up to, shall we, my good doctor?"

Demyan flipped the on switch and the screen whirred to life as the static slowly dissipated. When the static was finally clear, Demyan had a view of Heero's "room" from every conceivable angle. The exercise program Heero was working through, Demyan noted, was not so much different from his own workout schedule set for him by Dr. M. (However, Demyan was unaware that this was one of Heero's easier regimes.)

"It's a pity I have to kill him," Demyan commented to himself as he walked towards the training room. "He could have been a great asset to the rest of my mission. No matter."

Demyan arrived at the proper door and tried the handle, it was locked of course. So Demyan took a couple of steps backwards and then proceeded to ram the door. The door held.

"Stupid door," he muttered as he grabbed his gun and shot a full clip at it. "It didn't even make a dent!" Demyan raged when the smoke had cleared. "Sorry 01, but I can't get the door open to kill you quickly, so it looks like I'll have to leave you here to die in the explosion and the fire that follows, I can't afford to stay here too long, might get caught ya know."

Demyan spared a final glance at the training room and Heero's face before leaving the building and driving away, waiting till he was a good distance away before he pressed the detonation button. He continued driving away as he listened to the satisfying sound of the explosions.

xXxxXxxXx — Same time, somewhere else in the city.

"That was a _complete_ waste of time!"

"No it wasn't, Wufei, and you know it. Because it wasn't that place, we know it's the other one that's J's lab. It's even located near here, only about a 10 minute drive."

"Well, we can't just sit around doing nothing! We're so close; we've got to keep going! Who _knows_ what's happening to Heero while we sit here and talk!"

"All right, Duo, we get the point, and I'm sure we all agree with you. Let's get going, I'll drive."

The four boys got into the car and Trowa drove them across town. As they turned the corner onto a scene of fire trucks and flames, Duo's mouth fell open in horror.

"We've got to find out if Heero's in there!" Quatre yelled over the increasing noise.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Wufei asked.

"Simple, as preventers we commandeer some gear and go in and do a search."

No more words were needed, until they had to explain to the firefighters why they could and were going to take some of the gear.

Trowa discovered J's body a few minutes into the search and notified the others of this and his discovery of the location of the training room due to the master computer located in the room. After moving J's body to an out-of-the-way position Trowa started down the corridor to meet up with the others at the training room. The four met up at the door to Heero's room. The smoke in the hallway was so thick that none of them could see their hands three inches from their faces. The only consolation was that the inside of Heero's room seemed to be relatively smoke free.

When Duo tried to open the door he found, as Demyan had, that it was locked.

"I suppose ramming it would be pointless?"

Duo said nothing, but instead pulled a set of miniature tools, quickly removed the cover of the electronic lock, and made the lock look like a child's toy as he tampered with a couple of wires before an audible click was heard and the door became unlocked.

Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei entered the room, leaving Duo to make sure they didn't get locked in accidentally. As they entered, they saw Heero in the center of the room, still diligently working through his exercise regime.

"Heero?" Quatre called out tentatively. Heero continued as if he hadn't heard them, which he hadn't. Wufei, who had been taking in the room, realized that Heero was connected to a simulation of some sort and would have to be forcibly removed from it if there was to be any chance of saving him and making it out alive. He quickly moved over to the box on the wall that was feeding the simulation to Heero. Wufei pulled his gun and shot half a clip into the box, completely demolishing it.

As the simulation stopped, so did Heero, who stood panting in the mist of smoke that surrounded him. The simulator contact lenses and earphones fell out of Heero's eyes and ears as he collapsed, falling to the floor unconscious.

Quatre ran forward and checked Heero's pulse, which he found to be thready and faint. He turned to the small cot which occupied a corner of the room and grabbed the blanket off of it, quickly wrapping it around Heero's body to help protect him from burns.

"Let's go!" Quatre yelled as Trowa hoisted the unconscious Heero over his shoulder. As they exited the room Duo let the wires go and the door slid shut, locked once more. Of a mutual accord they all hurried from the building as fast as they could, worry for Heero's condition spurring them on. As they exited, several firemen came forward and first relieved Trowa of Heero's unconscious form and then began to help the four out of the fire gear while paramedics came forward to get their patient. Duo and the others watched as another group of firefighters entered the building to continue to try to put out the fire as well as watching as Heero was strapped to a gurney and lifted into the ambulance. Duo hopped in the back with one of the paramedics before the other closed and latched the doors. The other pilots followed closely behind the ambulance in the car they had arrived in.

When they arrived at the hospital, Heero was rushed into the emergency room, leaving the four remaining pilots to fret uselessly in the waiting room.

"What if they can't fix what's wrong with him? What if he's stuck as a vegetable for the rest of his life? Who _knows_ what happened to him when Wufei killed the program? What else could J have done to him?" Duo continued to fret as he paced back and forth in the waiting room. After more than two hours, the doctor came in, stopping Duo mid-rant. Unfortunately, to do that he had to clear his throat loudly several times before they all noticed him.

"Are all of you here for," the doctor looked at the chart in his hands, "Heero Yuy?"

Duo nodded and then gestured that he should continue.

"We have him stabilized to the best of our ability, but the outlook isn't very good as of right now. The preliminary toxicology report revealed that he has large doses of some highly dangerous chemicals in his blood stream. He's up receiving dialysis treatments now, but, honestly, it's a miracle he's managed to survive this long."

"Can we see him?"

"Not now, I'm afraid. His condition is still too unstable. Perhaps a little bit later when we are more certain of his condition. We will probably know more in the morning.

As the doctor left the room, Quatre turned to the others, "Well, I guess I'll call Une and let her know where we are and that we found Heero."

Wufei shook his head sorrowfully, "We found him, the question we face now is will he find his way back to us?"

**TBC**

A/N Hope you enjoyed it! Please R&R! If I get a lot of reviews, it may inspire me to write more sooner!


	6. All Together Now

**IMPORTANT!!!:** I have added this chapter between 5 and what was 6 (and now is 7, with a few minor revisions). Hope you enjoy. This chapter just came to me and I thought it worked better in this order. Sorry for any confusion!

A/N: Yes, I know I'm horrible at updating, Blah, Blah, Blah. But it would be nice if everyone would Read & Review to encourage me to write more sooner!

Disclaimer: All unoriginal characters are not mine; please realize I don't make any money off of this.

**Chapter 6 – All Together Now**

You can only watch someone sleeping for so long. Or, in Duo's case, watch someone lie unconscious in a hospital bed. It had been more than a week, and, although Heero's condition had stabilized, Heero showed no signs of regaining consciousness. Duo, along with the others, had agreed to watch over Heero in shifts, both to watch in case Heero woke up and also to protect him in case whoever had tried to kill Heero – and had succeeded in killing Dr. J – came back to finish the job.

Duo glanced up from the magazine which he had liberated from the waiting room after the countless hours had slowly taught him that Heero's occasional twitches were not precursors to impending consciousness. More likely, he was dreaming, if Heero can dream that is. Duo got up and checked Heero's vitals, not relying on the machines. Heero could fool machines, but never him.

How _could_ Heero fool him when he was shining a pen light into those Prussian blue orbs. Brain waves, he could give Heero credit for learning to control. Pupil dilation – not so much. Everything normal, for a gundam pilot in a coma anyway. He returned to his chair behind the door. It was incredibly irritating to have the only available chair in the room situated directly behind the door and bolted to the floor so you couldn't move it. Sitting in the chair, Duo couldn't sit anywhere near Heero and had absolutely no vantage point on the hallway acting as a doorstop as he was.

All there was for him to do was continue to wait and hope.

oOooOooOo

Demyan growled at his computer before swearing profusely. It was almost as if the other pilots had simply ceased to exist! How was someone as important as the head of Winner Enterprises able to simply disappear? The only pilot with any sort of active trail was in a severe coma, logged as an active patient at the hospital where he was being cared for; the rest had no plane tickets, travel plans, or even credit card charges.

_Well, start where you can I guess_, Demyan thought as he grabbed his bag and headed for the hospital. There was a sick patient whom he needed to visit.

Apparently the fire hadn't killed Heero Yuy after all. A pity because now Demyan would have to go back and finish the job. Dr. M would have been very disappointed – all that training, just to prevent mistakes like this, right out the metaphorical window at the first stage of the mission. He'd completely neglected to return to J's warehouse and follow up on the fire to make sure that the lives intended to be taken had been; a follow up that was, clearly, necessary in light of the recently acquired information. Better late than never, at least. It would be simple, he could see it now; the medical file placed Heero in a coma, one that he most likely would never awaken from – and one that Demyan intended to make permanent.

oOooOooOo _The next day, back at the hospital…_

Again with this stupid chair. Duo resigned himself to the uncomfortableness of it all. The hours seemed to drag on and on until his complaints drifted toward the back of his mind and his eyelids wouldn't seem to stay open. The fitful slumber wasn't any better or worse than the rest he had been getting at the safehouse, always worried about Heero or disturbed by one of the other guys, but any sleep is better than none at all. And surely Heero was more than making up for any and all of Duo's many sleepless nights.

At first, Demyan's footsteps didn't disturb Duo's fitful nap, he had grown used to the soft tap tap tap of nurses shoes hurrying back and forth to see to other patients' needs and the somewhat slower, heavier footsteps of visitors coming to wish well their loved ones. Demyan's barely audible footsteps stopped as he reached Heero's room, pausing hesitantly and listening carefully to the steady rhythm of beeping from the machines before stepping silently over the threshold. He took three steps into the room and over to the bed where Heero lay to stare at the unmoving young man dispassionately. Seconds later, he reached into his jacket and removed a pistol and its silencer, completely unaware of Duo's presence in the room. Another mistake for Dr. M's record books, not clearing the room before commencing with the mission, very sloppy.

While Demyan screwed the silencer onto the barrel of his pistol, Duo, who was not completely conscious, employed all of his incredible skill and expertise in the field of stealth to remove himself from the before-accursed chair and draw his own standard-issue revolver. After retrieving said pistol, Duo quickly raised the weapon and locked his aim on the intruder before breaking the silence with a soft "Drop the gun and raise your hands above your head, you bastard. If you don't, I will shoot you and I will shoot to kill."

"Oh, really?" Demyan's reply was almost sarcastic in its tone.

"Don't mess with me, pally. I've killed better men than you without blinking so if you don't drop the gun, I'll have to add you to my list of less-accomplished men that I've killed. I will kill you, don't doubt that." Duo's response was equally acidic, despite the almost genial tone which he said it in.

Demyan trusted his instincts and wisely chose to heed Duo's warnings and carefully removed his finger from the trigger while silently cursing his inefficiency. Twice in a row he had screwed up this mission. This was something he had been trained for all of his life, and yet here he was making the exact mistakes that had been meticulously trained out of him. What was happening to him? Demyan quickly covered his emotions with a mask of neutrality as he put his hands up and began to turn towards his captor.

As the unknown assassin turned away from Heero's bedside, Duo observed every calculated movement and his estimation of the man skyrocketed. This was no ordinary assassin, the man moved more like a soldier, no, not a soldier – like a gundam pilot!

The corner of Demyan's mouth pulled up in a smirk as he completed the turn and said, "Ah, Duo Maxwell, I was wondering where you were."

oOooOo

A/N: That's it. Not the greatest, but let me know what you think, regardless!


	7. A Heero Returned

**IMPORTANT!!!:** I have added this chapter between 5 and what was 6 (and now is 7, with a few minor revisions). Hope you enjoy. This chapter just came to me and I thought it worked better in this order. Sorry for any confusion!

A/N: Yes, I know I'm horrible at updating, Blah, Blah, Blah. But it would be nice if everyone would Read & Review to encourage me to write more sooner!

Disclaimer: All unoriginal characters are not mine; please realize I don't make any money off of this.

**Ch. 7 – A Heero Returned**

"Heero, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I'm telling you, you better not die on me. I mean, you bloody blew yourself up and survived, you can't let this stop you!" Duo was nearly in tears despite his best efforts, Heero had been in a coma for near on two weeks and their hopes were slowly fading. Duo settled down in his chair to wait out his "watch" even though watching was pretty pointless, Heero still wasn't doing anything.

"So, Heero, I never did get you back for stealing those parts off of Deathscythe…"

"No' m'fault, D'," Heero's voice was very faint and scratchy, and Duo, who had begun pacing back and forth down the length of the room didn't hear it as he continued talking, "I mean, I know I painted Wufei's motorcycle pink and blamed it on you, but you know he didn't believe me. I mean, why would he? You wouldn't be caught DEAD with anything that remotely resembles the color pink; I'm not saying I've got anything against that, I understand the whole Relena traumatization thing. But, I mean, c'mon, dude, after I saved your ass _again_ by catching that guy, what-his-name, uh, Demyan, if you're gonna bite the bullet at least do it yourself, you can't let it be J's stupid program that does it for you,"

"No' goin' 'where, D'," Heero managed these barely audible words out in quick succession of each other, but it wasn't the words which caught Duo's attention, it was how Heero's breathing pattern had changed. Duo spun toward the bed and leaned over Heero cautiously.

"Heero? You awake, pally?"

"No, baka, 'm talkin' in my sleep," was the breathy reply Duo received. "You won't stop jabbering will you?"

"I'll be right back with the other guys, don't go anywhere, and don't talk; you're suffering from some pretty bad smoke inhalation still. Stay right there!" Duo ran down out of the room and down the hall to the nurses' station where they let him borrow the phone to call Quatre and the others.

Heero smiled, it wasn't like he had the choice of going anywhere at this point anyway. Duo returned, breathless but elated, with the doctor. Heero glared at the bald man standing next to Duo, he didn't like doctors, and he had good reason. Besides, he could already feel some of his strength returning. Duo saw Heero's expression and tried to head the impending disaster off. "Heero, you have to cooperate with Dr. Swoop, he says you're mostly healed, but he needs to look you over one more time and if all goes well he'll be able to let you go home with me and Quatre tomorrow morning. If you don't, he'll probably have to keep you here another week at least." Heero could plainly see the pleading look in Duo's expressive violet eyes and he thought he had heard Duo's voice crack slightly as well. He nodded resignedly in the doctor's general direction and Swoop came forward to the bed warily, moving to adjust it so Heero would be in more of a sitting position. He quickly and efficiently looked over the physical wounds which had not yet fully healed before moving away to pick up the metal chart from the small, wire basket attached to the end of the bed and jotting down some notes on it. Once finished, he replaced the chart in the basket and turned to Duo and Heero, "Mr. Yuy will be discharged tomorrow morning into Mr. Winner's care, on the single condition that Mr. Winner has Mr. Yuy psychologically evaluated in the near future. There is no telling how the program, or indeed the facility in which he was kept, has affected his psyche."

Duo nodded dutifully, he of course knew that Heero would never be evaluated; whoever attempted to evaluate Heero would in all probability soon find pine boxes comfortable and relaxing, not that they would really have any choice in the matter.

***

Quatre finished filling out the paperwork at the front desk as Heero sat morosely in his wheelchair while Duo stood behind him grinning manically.

"Finished!" Quatre announced happily as he set the pen onto the clipboard and returned it to the receptionist and turned towards Heero and Duo. "Shall we go then? Rashid is out in the pickup area waiting for us." Duo nodded and maneuvered Heero out to the car. Wufei and Trowa had agreed to wait at the house to keep watch over Demyan and to, hopefully, make things easier on Heero.

The drive to the house was only about 15 minutes long, but it felt like about 2 hours. The silence seemed unbreakable, like somebody had tied invisible gags around each of their mouths. Finally, the car pulled up to the house and everyone went inside where Quatre immediately showed Heero to his room. Heero sat on the freshly-made bed and turned toward Quatre. Quatre, for his part, didn't think Heero was going to say anything, so he was supremely shocked when he heard Heero whisper in a still slightly raspy voice, "Thank you." Quatre stood there for a moment before nodding in acknowledgement and returning with, "You're welcome, Heero, and welcome back."

oOooOooOo

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated, blah blah blah, I know this really doesn't advance the plot much and again I beg forgiveness, blah blah blah. Now, all I ask, humbly down on my hands and knees begging, is that you REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! Even though the reviews may not hurry the next chapter along, it boosts my confidence so that I will at least _write_ the next chapter! Also, sorry for the chapter being sooo short! Again R&R


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